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The New Zealand International Starlight conference took place at Lake Tekapo, New Zealand in June 2012.

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Proceedings of the Third International Starlight Conference

have been published and are for sale

Edited by John Hearnshaw, Karen Pollard and Marilyn Head
Published Feb 2013 by the Starlight Conference Organizing Committee, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
ISBN 978-0-473-23587-1

We have pleasure in offering for sale the Starlight Conference Proceedings. The conference was held at Lake Tekapo, New Zealand, 10-13 June 2012.
The Proceedings are essential holdings for astronomical libraries and all those interested in combating light pollution and appreciating the beauty of the night sky. They are also an important resource for astro-tourism operators and lighting engineers.
All participants in the conference have been sent a free copy as part of their registration. If you would like additional copies for your institutional library, or for your colleagues, we can send these to you for the cost of printing and mailing. The cost of each volume is $29.00 (NZ dollars, including GST) and the mailing cost is $5 within NZ, $11 to Australia, $20 to the US and China, $23 to UK, Europe and most other places.
If you wish to order copies of the proceedings, please contact Rosalie Reilly (Rosalie.reilly@canterbury.ac.nz) at the Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, New Zealand 8140.

This conference is recognized by the Starlight Initiative as the third of a series started in 2007 on the island of La Palma with the World Conference in Defence of the Night Sky and the Right to Observe the Stars, where the Starlight Declaration was adopted. It will address themes concerning

the defence of the quality of the night sky,

the right to observe the stars, the heritage of starlight,

the issues of light pollution, the protection of observatory sites,

the benefits of public outreach in astronomy and

the cultural aspects of visual astronomy.

The Starlight Conference in New Zealand has been planned in conjunction with a bid we recently submitted to the International Dark-Sky Association for a Dark-Sky Reserve to be recognized in the Mackenzie Basin region around Lake Tekapo, and also in the nearby Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park. A Starlight Reserve for the Mackenzie Basin was also proposed in the recent IAU-ICOMOS Thematic Study. We will discuss the concept, implementation and benefits of Starlight Reserves as a means of protecting the night sky, with the benefits for public outreach and astro-tourism, and for astronomical research.

In addition, several radio astronomers have pointed out that the issues of radio-frequency interference have much in common with issues of light pollution. We will therefore expand the topics under discussion to RFI and the development of radio-astronomy in New Zealand, especially the selection of radio-quiet sites. This is topical as New Zealand may participate with Australia in the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio-astronomy project.

Earlier Starlight meetings were held at La Palma in April 2007 and in Fuerteventura (both in the Canary Islands) in March 2009. The New Zealand meeting will continue the progress made at these earlier meetings.